1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a press-molding apparatus and, more particularly, to a press-molding apparatus for a cosmetic patch, in which a plurality of stacked pieces of patch fabric is cut to a predetermined shape while being pressed using a press, and the cut pieces of patch fabric may be easily separated from a cutter.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, a cosmetic component is mainly used in the form of a liquid or lotion when being used so as to be absorbed into the skin as makeup. However, it may be manufactured in the form of a film having a predetermined shape, and thus, a cosmetic patch having a hydrogel-type cosmetic component applied thereon is also useful.
The base for such a patch may include an aqueous base, an oil base, an emulsion base, etc. In the case where the aqueous base contains oil as an active ingredient, it is difficult to increase the amount thereof and to simultaneously realize a thin film.
Furthermore, an oil or emulsion base is composed mainly of rubber or a synthetic resin, which has a strong tendency to agglomerate and is typically a hard gel, and thus it is difficult to increase the amount of the active ingredient and movement thereof in the base is slow. This is because the active ingredient is simply physically contained in the base, rather than being contained through chemical affinity.
Since the base for a patch must exhibit specific functions, including retention of its morphology and efficient attaching or detaching of the patch to or from a target, an oil base having a strong tendency to agglomerate is mainly utilized. For the oil base, however, movement of the active ingredient contained therein is not efficient.
Typically, a patch for a cosmetic is of an adhesive-dispersion type, in which an adhesive gel is cast on a piece of nonwoven fabric, or a hydrogel patch using sodium alginate, chitosan, etc. is useful. Such a patch has poor skin adhesion, and is dried upon usage and is thus easily separated from the skin, undesirably resulting in a short period of availability.
In the case where such a cosmetic patch is manufactured, a hydrogel containing a cosmetic component is applied on each piece of patch fabric, and respective pieces of patch fabric are manually cut, stacked, and packaged, undesirably resulting in a long manufacturing time and low accuracy.
Thus, when a variety of cosmetic patches are manufactured using a hydrogel, cutting of the hydrogel, which is regarded as important and difficult, is under study.    Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2012-0116276.